Rail joint



Jan. 14, 1930. J. A. MCGREW 1,743,559

RAIL JOINT Filed May 24, 1929 followinr Patented Jan. 14, 1930 PATENT OFFICE JOHN' A. MCGREW, OIF-ALBANY, NEW YORK RAIL .Toru'r Application led May 24,

This invention relates to an improved method of and means for cutting and joining the ends of railroad rails and more particularly it relates to a two plane cutting of the ends 5 of abutting rails and to securing these ends together so that maximum benefit is obtained from the particularly type of cut.

Among the various objects and features of novelty may be particularly enumerated the g, while others will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawings and following specification:

A. The cutting of the ends of rails in such a manner that the head is cut on a diagonal to the main axis of the rail and the base is cut at right angles to theaxis of the rail, thus permitting wheels to pass almost noiselessly over the joint and at the same time preventing any expansion from causing lateral displacement of the abutting ends.

B. The use of diagonally cut' rails with joint bars which engage the heads of the rail ends only adjacent the diagonal cut and which joint bars.

C. The provision of a rail joint in which the rail head is cut diagonally and the two ends thereof are supported by simple beam action from the bases'of the rails remote from the ends thereof, rather than as a continuous beam as is attempted in the customary splice.

In the drawings there is shown a single embodiment of the invention of which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a rail joint constructed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

yFigure 4 is a transverse vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

The desirability of a diagonal joint between the heads of abutting railroad rails has long been known, but if such a joint is leffected by cutting the whole depth of each rail in a vertical plane diagonally to the axis of the rail, there always exists the danger of lateral displacement of the two ends Ain the case of excessive expansion or where the expansion of several rails 1s transferred to one jomt, and

engage the rail bases only near the ends of the 1929. Serial No. 365,734.

such displacement may result in derailments. The present invention contemplates obtaining al1 the benets of the diagonal cut, such as the smoothness and quietness when wheels cross the joint, the lack of pounding and wear on the ends of the rails, and the reduced attention necessary to the joint plates and bolts, while at the same time eliminating the danger above mentioned. This is eEected by cutting the head and upper section of the web of the rail at a suitable angle diagonal to the axis of the rail and cutting the base and remainder of the web at right angles to the axis of the rail. Preferably the planes of these two cuts intersect in a vertical line lying at the center of the web. To make the best use of this type of cut, a special form of joint bar is preferred which supports the rail heads only adjacent the ends thereof from points on the rail bases remote from the ends of the rails, thus in effect supporting the ends of the heads by simple beam action as distinguished from the previous efforts to obtain a continuous beam effect at the joint.

Referring to the drawings, there is disclosed at 10 and l1 the adjacent ends of a pair of rails, the two ends being cut to tit together and arranged to be positioned by suitable oint plates. In the specification the -two ends of the rails in question will be referred to as abutting ends although it will be understood that they will not actually abut except under conditions of maximum temperature. Each rail has its head and upper part of the web cut on a diagonal plane, indicated by the faces 12, 13, which is at any suitable angle to the laxis of the rail. The bases 14, 15 of the rail endsare cut along planes at right angles to the axis of the rails and indicated by the lines 16, 17. These cuts extkend throughout the lower portion of the we In order that there shall be no waste in the cutting and no difficulty in separating the rails where the two cuts meet, the metal which would normally be uncut at this meeting point is removed before the cuts are made by drilling a circular hole 2O through the web where the junction of the cuts will be. This removes the metal which would not be cut lof the cut which is substantially identical with that existing where the plain square type of joint is used. It may be found desirable to make the cut which is at right angles to the rail axis several hundredths of an inch narrower than the other to insure that the square ends will abut first and thus prevent any possibility of lateral displacement of the rails in respect to each other. It will be seen from Figure 1 that the plane defined by the surface 12 intersects the plane defined by the surface 16 in a vertical line lying in the center of the web. Y

The hole 20 Which was originally drilled in the rail web, for convenience in making the cut, leaves a notch of arcuate form in each web at the end thereof, and these two notches, when confronting in the joint, provide a convenient opening for the passage of a bolt to hold the joint bars in position. These joint bars are shown respectively at 21 and 22 and are identical in construction, so but one need be described.

From Figures 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that the joint bars comprise sections which may be rolled or forged having the longitudinal central portions 23 bordered at the top and bottom on the outer face by the beads 24v and 25 which give additional strength. The upper edge of the joint bar is provided with a surface 26 so shaped as to closely engage under the heads of the rails between the lines A and B in Fi ure 2. From each line to the end of the ar the upper face is inclined away from the rail head as shown at 27 and 28. The upper surface of the joint bar maybe said to engage the rail heads only at the central portion of the bar, or, stated differently, to engage only the .end portions of the rail heads. The bottom surface of the joint bar is provided at each end with a portion 29 which is shaped to engage the upper surface of the rail bases and between these portions 29 is relieved as shown'at 30 to clear the rail bases. Thus the joint bar may be said to rest on the bases of the two rails only at the ends of the joint bar or only remote from the ends of the rails. This provides, in effect, a three-point engagement of the joint bar with the rails so that the rail heads adjacent the joint are supported by a simple beam action from the rail bases at points remote from the joint. The vertical distancebetween the surface 26 and the surfaces 29 is such that the shape of the rail prevents the inner face 32 of the joint bar from engaging the webs of the rails, thus insuring close contact with the heads and the bases. The lines vA, B, are spaced apart a sufiicient distance so as to have each joint bar engage under the heads of both rails at the joint but to mainly support the narrow pointed portion of one head.

Each oint bar is provided withthree bolt holes, that numbered 35 at the right-hand end in Figure 2 being circular and of a size to snugly engage the bolt. The remaining holes 36 and 37 are elliptical with the major axes horizontal and the minor axes of the same Alength as the diameter of the hole The hole 36 corresponds in position with the notches in the ends of the rail webs. The holes 35 and 37 correspond with the circular holes 38 in .the web and these `yholes in the web are of the diameter of the hole 35. The two joint bars being made alike, when reversed to fit on the two sides of the rails, permit the circular hole of one bar to be opposite the elliptical hole in the other. When the bolts are in position, it will be seen clearly from Figure 1 that the joint bar on the lower side is prevented from relative longitudinal movement in respect to the rail 11 since-the bolt fits tightly in the hole in both the web and the bar. The bar on the upper side is prevented from longitudinal movement in respect to the rail 10 for the same reason, while each bar is permitted to slide in respect to the rail to which itis not tightly secured. Each bar is thus secured to that rail which presents to the bar the obtuse angle between the cut of the head and the edge of the head. This prevents any slipping which may cause the supporting portion of the bar to be moved 'from beneath that head. By having the vertical axes of the elliptical holes of substantially the same 'diameter as the bolts, these bolts assist in effecting the simple beam action of the joint bars.

The particular matter of finishing the rail ends which is disclosed in this application is made use of most effectively in conjunction with the special form'of joint barsv herein disclosed, and it is the intent of this application to claim this combination wherein the long point projecting from one rail on each side of the joint is supported by simple beam action from the rail`bases remote from the joint. This form of joint reduces to a minimum any motion between the two rails, .and thus eliminates the normal rapid wear of the joint bars which results in rough riding and poundin of the rail en'ds. The diagonal cut of the rail heads allows the wheels to be partially supported on each rail as they pass thel joint, and thus there can be no pounding nor roughness at the joint.

While the embodiment ofthe invention disclosed herein makes use of the diagonal cut with the three-point supporting bar, itwill be understood that either of these' features may be used with-the conventional form of the other feature with improved results over .the customary joints.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. In a rail joint, in combination, a pair of rail ends substantially abutting, the lower halves along a plane normal to the rail axis and the upper halves in a vertical plane diagonal to the rail axis, a joint bar for each side of said rail ends, each bar having a surface engaging beneath the rail heads only near the ends and each bar having surfaces ltngaging the rail bases only at the ends of the 2. In a r\ail joint, in combination, a pair of rail ends substantially abutting in two intersecting vertical planes and a joint bar secured to both rail ends and engaging the heads only adjacent the joint and the bases only remote from4 the joint.

3. In a rail joint, in combination, a pair of rail ends substantially abutting in two intercting vertical planes, the plane of meeting of the rail heads being diagonal to the axis of the rails, a joint bar for each side of said rail ends, each bar resting on the `base of each rail only remote from the ends thereof, each bar engaging under the heads of the rails only near the center of the bar, said joint being so arranged that each bar supports mainly the overhanging end of one rail head. l

4. In arail joint, in combination, a pair of substantially abutting rail ends, a pair of joint bars, a single hole in the web of each rail end of a size to snugly engage a bolt, a notch in the end of each rail web, three holes in each joint bar, one circular to closely engage a bolt and two elliptical with the major axes horizontal and the minnor axis of length e ual to the diameter of the circular hole and a olt passing through each hole in both bars and the rail whereby upon slippage one bar moves with each rail end.

5. A splice bar for a rail joint including in combination, a longitudinall central portion, an upper surface adapted to be partially out of engagement with the rail heads and having a short rail head engaging portion centrally thereof, a lower surface adapted to engage the rails at its ends only, said bar having an odd number of holes therein including a central hole, said central hole being nonrcir'- cular.

6. A splice bar for a rail joint having but three holes therein, one ofsaid holes being circular to closely engage a joint bolt and the remaining holes being elliptical tov engage a bolt closely at only two points.

, 7. In a rail joint, in combination, a pair of rails having the ends of the heads substantially abutting in a vertical plane diagonal to the aXis`of the rails, a joint bar for each side of said rails and means to {ix each bar against longitudinal movement in respect to the rail end on its side having the obtuse angle between the end and side. of the head.

8. In a rail joint, in combination, a pair of rails having the ends of the heads substantially abutting in a vertical plane diagonal to the axis of the rails, a joint bar for each side of said rails `and means to fix each bar against longitudinal movement in respect to the rail end on its side having the obtuse angle between the end and'side of the head, and means to permit each bar to slip in respect to the other rail to permit expansion and contraction of the rails. A

In testimony vwhereof I hereunto ai'iX my signature.

JOHN A. MCGREW. 

